Beauty firm Avon is believed to be considering expanding into financial services by offering insurance and credit along side its traditional products on customer's doorsteps.
The UK branch of the US company is said to be in the conceptual stage of realizing the project that could result in door-to-door representatives offering life, car and other insurance, as well as loans and credit cards, to customers directly in their homes.
According to the Financial Times newspaper, Avon plans to recruit 20,000 more staff over the next five years to facilitate its rapidly expanding UK business and potentially its proposed expanded product portfolio. The beauty company already employs 160,000 sales representatives in the UK.
Avon believes it can use its strong customer relationship to enable a swift and successful pick up of financial business. To date, the company has enjoyed strong business credentials based on its strategy of personal selling by women to women, mainly of cosmetic brands.
Speaking to Guardian Unlimited, an Avon spokeswoman said the company would ‘move quickly’ into offering financial services if the business conditions were right.